The officials also discuss what the organization charges for the body parts, which opponents of Planned Parenthood said violates federal law and the organization said are customary handling fees paid by research labs.

Two concepts deeply embedded in Catholic social teaching -- solidarity and subsidiarity -- are often viewed as separate strains of the tradition and even in opposition to one another when applied in the context of today's polarized politics.

Solidarity is seen as the portion of teaching with a communitarian emphasis and inclination toward large, society-wide solutions. Subsidiarity, on the other hand, is popularly understood as inclining toward the individualist, let-the-locals-take-care-of-things end of the scale.

In a filing Thursday with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Little Sisters of the Poor have asked the court for relief from being forced to comply with the federal contraceptive mandate or face heavy fines.

The sisters are being asked to choose between adhering to their Catholic faith -- which prohibits them from providing contraceptives -- and continuing to pursue their religious mission of serving the elderly poor, said Sr. Loraine Marie Maguire, mother provincial of the order.